After a week of meager slop for surf and gray drizzly days, the sun and surf that greeted the final West Coast stop of the season was a welcome sight. A peaky combo swell prevailed on Saturday with light offshore winds. The girls started things out with some impressive surfing. The Girls U16 final had Frankie Harrer and Kulia Doherty battling it out for Girls U16 season champion title. For Frankie to win the season title, she needed the win this event and Kulia needed to come in 3rd or worse. That is exactly how it ended up and Frankie took the win and the title. Meah Collins finished 2nd and Malia Osterkamp closed out the season with a 4th place finish—her first Surfing America Prime final!

In Girls U18 Kulia Doherty had the season title in the bag regardless of how she did in this event. Even so, she ended up with an impressive 2nd place finish. The story of the division was Lulu Erkeneff, always the bridesmaid and never the bride in these events. She took off on a set left and slammed the lip then airdropped into the trough, regained her composure, and powered off the bottom again for another big hit. The wave earned her a 5.83 out of 10. With that wave and a 3.5 back up, Lulu took her first win in the series.

Girls under 16 season champion Frankie Harrer. Photo: McDaniels

As lunchtime rolled around, TransWorld SURF was manning the grill, cooking up some delicious Farmer John All Beef Franks for the throngs of hungry competitors.

In Boys U16 Kanoa Igarashi, Nic Hdez, Griffin Colapinto and Jake Marshall were hot after the ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in Panama where they helped earn a Copper Medal for the USA Surf Team. Kanoa was definitely in rhythm with 7.07 and 6.33 and wave scores for the win 4.6 points ahead of 2nd place Nic Hdez. Griffin Colapinto surfed sharp all day, but seemed to lose steam in the final as did double finalist Jake Marshall. In the Boys U14 final, Jake dug deep and found the energy to take the win, followed by John Mel in 2nd, Ryland Ruben in 3rd and Micky Clarke in 4th. Kanoa Igarashi edged out Jake Davis for the season champion title in Boys U16 and Griffin Colapinto held on as season champion in Boys U14 despite not making that final in this event.

The Boys U18 final was a slow affair. Waves with scoring potential were few and far between, but Kevin Schulz seemed to be able to tap into the best waves that came through. His 6.17 and 5.83 were the two highest scores of the heat. Jake Davis managed to find a 4.33 and 3.07 for 2nd and his PacSun USA Surf Team mates Taylor Clark and Trevor Thornton came up empty and finished 3rd and 4th. Taylor still managed to maintain his lead in the ratings and took home the season champion title. An elated Kevin Schulz took the win, his first in Surfing America Prime, and was chaired up the beach by his friends.

Next up is the Surfing America Prime East Coast final event at Nags Head, NC, on May 19th and 20th. Then it’s on to the Surfing America USA Championships at Huntington Beach Pier, June 16–18 and Lower Trestles June 19–23.